Quinn family action against Anglo back on track

A legal action against the former Anglo Irish Bank by the family of Sean Quinn is back on track.

The High Court has lifted a statutory stay on the legal proceedings against IBRC which came into force when the Oireachtas urgently passed legislation to wind-up the bank last month.

The IBRC Act which was passed into law last month put a stay on all existing legal proceedings against the bank. As a result, many cases were put on hold.

The family of bankrupt businessman Sean Quinn was affected by the stay as it is suing the former Anglo Irish Bank in a challenge to the legality of €2.3bn of loans issued to Quinn companies.

Their lawyers applied for the stay to be lifted arguing it was in the court's power to do so.

Unusually, lawyers for the bank agreed.

In his ruling, Mr Justice Sean Ryan said it seemed that a fair, proper and constitutional interpretation led to the inevitable conclusion that the stay in the case could be lifted once an application was brought to court.